"Reading exposes one to the thoughts and ideas of others" - Emil Flores

To celebrate National Children’s Book Day, we asked some of our Hiyas authors to answer two simple questions.

These are the answers of Emil Flores, author of The Secret of Samson’s Super Strength.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF READING?

Reading helps with language learning such as grammar and vocabulary.
Reading helps with creativity. Words create stories in the reader’s mind that can inspire more stories.

Reading exposes one to the thoughts and ideas of others.

Even when we are physically alone, we are not when we read.

WHAT’S THE LATEST CHILDREN’S BOOK YOU’VE READ THAT YOU REALLY LIKED?

I recently read a wonderful book called The Princess and the Kiss by Jennie Bishop. I don’t have it anymore because we gave it as a gift for my goddaughter. It is a fairy tale about a princess deciding to which suitor she will bestow the greatest gift her parents have given her, her first kiss. It’s a profound story about God’s gift of purity to both girls and boys.

Emil Flores is the author of the Hiyas book The Secret of Samson’s Super Strength (illustrated by Paul Quiroga). Emil teaches Creative Writing at the Department of English and Comparative Literature in UP Diliman. He lectures on comics and superheroes, and writes adventure stories for the indie comics group, Polyhedron Comics. He has written a memoir, Virginia Tech Memories: A Filipino Grad Student Looks Back (published by the UST Publishing House).